Rupee erases losses, trades higher at 65.05 per US dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Friday erased all the losses and gained 0.07% to 65.05 a dollar from its previous close of 65.10. Earlier in a day, the Indian currency fell to as much as 65.31.

State-run banks sold dollars, likely on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, at 65.28-65.30, three Mumbai-based traders said, according to Bloomberg.

Rupee was still down 2.1% for the week, headed for its biggest five-day drop since August 2013.

Among Asian currencies, Malaysian ringgit lost 1.27%, South Korean won 0.568%, Singapore dollar 0.371%, Thai baht 0.275%, Philippines peso 0.190%, Indonesian rupiah 0.007%, Taiwan dollar 0.047% and Chinese renminbi fell 0.033%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong dollar gained 0.04% and Japanese Yen gained 0.024%.

The Sensex index gained 1.31% or 360.53 points to 27,910.06 points. All sectoral indices were trading in green, with BSE realty being the biggest gainer, rising 3.88%, followed by BSE healthcare index gaining 2.38%.

The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.74% compared with its Thursday’s close of 7.74%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 3.19%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $13.33 billion from local equity and bond markets.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.375, down 0.07% from the previous close of 96.445.